Amaranthine
by TenshiNoAkuma
Summary: -On Hold- It's 1999 and unbeknownst to most, 7 children are trying to make their way home from another world. When Tai has to choose between two cards - one real, one fake - to open Myotismon's gate back home, what happens when he chooses the wrong card?


**Summary: **It's 1999 and unbeknownst to most, seven children are trying to make their way home from another world. When Tai has to choose between two cards - one real, one fake - to open Myotismon's gate back home, what happens when he chooses the wrong one?

**Disclaimer:** I will only say this once. Neither Digimon nor the World Ends With You belong to me.

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><p><strong>Amaranthine<strong> - by tenshinoakuma

**THE DAY BEFORE**

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><p>"Tai, you've got to make up your mind, now!"<p>

Ugh! They were out of time! "Okay!" Tai threw the two cards face down onto the pedestal and flipped one of them over. Agumon's card. "It's this one!" he shouted, "You're the mon, Agumon!" and put the card into its slot on the pedestal. "Open the gate!"

Everyone looked up anxiously at the gate while Weregarurumon held the spider-like Dokugumon at bay. "Come on!" A small sliver of light formed between the giant doors before they opened fully and bathed everyone in a blue light.

"It's opening!" Sora cried out in amazement.

"It worked!"

Tai picked up Koromon, yelling, "Come on!" and running for the gate, aware of the others following not far behind. The last thing he remembered was closing his eyes and jumping through the gate, Koromon clutched tightly to his chest.

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><p>"What shall we do about them, Sir?"<p>

The Composer didn't answer his Conductor. Crouching by the nearest unconscious child - some atrociously spiky haired kid with goggles - he reached out his hand to read his Soul. The Imagination in this one wasn't particularly special, but there was some kind of unusual strength in it that was rather interesting. Approaching the other children one by one, he received similar results, though with wildly variable levels of Imagination. Of course, the real matter of interest was the strange creatures the children had apparently brought with them. His Conductor really had _no_ idea what sort of trouble had just landed in Shibuya. Rising, the Composer kept his expression carefully neutral as he glanced over the children and creatures lying unconscious on the Room of Reckoning's floor.

"I will decide their fate later," he said, though he already knew what he wanted to do with these outsiders. His gaze flickered to his Conductor. "I am _quite _sure you have other duties to attend to. Or do you have more to report, Megumi?"

His Conductor gave him a sweeping bow, expression hidden by his shades. "No, Sir. I will take my leave of Your presence."

The Composer did not move until he could feel his Conductor's presence leave the Room of Reckoning. Seven children and seven... well, he had no idea what these other creatures were. However, there was something oddly familiar about these foreign creatures when he scanned them. Something oddly familiar about whatever energy that formed them, but he couldn't quite figure it out right now. Oh, he loved solving mysteries, but only in his spare time, and he had this troubling feeling spare time would soon be in very short supply. And there was still the matter of _where_ these children and creatures had come from; the energy that formed Souls should not simply _appear_ in the UG. Everything came from _somewhere_, whether that was from the grounds of other Composers, or from the cycle within his own UG. Even reforming Noise into a usable form required taking energy that already existed. That was not the same as pulling Noise out of nothing, which was essentially what seemed to be happening here...

"You called, J?"

He didn't need to turn to know it was his Producer. "You wouldn't happen to know where these troublesome kids have come from, now, would you? Or what these creatures are?"

His Producer scratched the back of his neck before kneeling by one of the creatures. After a while, he added, "No clue, boss. Never seen anythin' like these before."

Sighing, the Composer watched his Producer examine rest of the children and creatures, but didn't really pay attention; he was thinking hard, hand curling loosely under his chin. What was even more troubling was that none of these outsiders seemed to have died to enter the UG either. Scanning their surface thoughts simply resulted in incomprehensible junk. Eighth child this and eighth child that, if they all belonged to the same family, he'd be more than happy to allow this Myotismon character to do a little population control...

"So, what are your plans for them?"

The sound of his Producer's voice broke his train of thought, and it was hard not to let a small scowl make its way onto his face. He tried to shake off his irritation by sidestepping the question with a demand of his own.

"Do be a dear and find out if the other Angels have a clue, will you?" But he did deign to answer his Producer's question regardless. "I suppose the Angels wouldn't be pleased with me if I let them off the hook." He had no intention to do so, regardless of whether the Angels liked it or not. If these outsiders were going to intrude in his territory, then they would have to play by his rules. Turning to face his Producer, he gave the older man a wide smirk. "Maybe I'll even hold a very special Game, _just_ for them."

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><p>Tai groggily opened his eyes and slowly sat up, shaking his head. Ugh, what a killer headache. But wait! Were they back at the campsite? Wait, no, it was way too dark in here to be the campsite. Just a flat floor with Koromon and weird markings on it, and what looked like pillars further away before it became too dark for him to see any further.<p>

But more importantly, was everyone here? Suddenly a lot more alert, Tai looked around to see if everyone else was with him. Matt and Tsunomon looked like they were fine, and were checking up on T.K. and Patamon. Sora was helping Mimi sit up while Biyomon and Palmon looked around. Even though Joe was still lying face down on the floor, Tai was pretty sure he was fine with the number of complaints he was making to Gomamon. Izzy already had his laptop out and was checking something or other on it while Motimon peered around at the screen. Yep, it looked like everyone was here. That was a relief. Picking up Koromon - who groaned loudly, "Taaaiii, my head hurts." "That's the only part of you that _can_ hurt, Koromon!" - he stood up and asked everyone, "Hey, is everyone alright?"

He received various levels of enthusiasm in everyone's response, from Gomamon's cheerful, "C'mon, Joe! Rise and shine!" and Joe's unenthused response, "I knew I should've listened to my mum and taken those travel pills," to Palmon's, "Gee, Mimi, your world looks kinda... dull," and Mimi's loud, "That's because this isn't our world! Oooh, Tai, what kind of weird place did you bring us to, anyway?"

Before Tai could answer, Izzy cut in. "We appear to be in another world, only it seems a lot bleaker than the Digiworld." He frowned, looking at his laptop screen. "And I can't get an internet connection here, either."

Looking sheepish, Tai held out a hand defensively. "Look, I must've chosen the wrong card. We're all still in one piece, so maybe we can figure out how to get back-"

Sora's voice cut his defence short. "Hey guys, I don't think we're alone in here."

Tai looked over to who Sora was looking at... and had to wonder how the heck he managed to miss them in the first place! A being who seemed to be made out of pure light was lounging in what Tai could only describe as a throne with some weird carvings on the pillars beside it. As everyone's attention focused on the being, the being slowly stood and walked - yep, he checked. Definitely walked, not floated - towards them. Some kind of off-white aura seemed to be radiating off the being like the flames off Meramon's body. "Uh oh," Matt voiced in a quieter tone, wary. "Are they a friend? Or an enemy?"

"They've got to be a friend," T.K. piped up, a great big smile on his face. "They're all bright, like an angel. Ain't that right, Patamon?"

Patamon flapped his wings until he was at T.K's eye level, responding with a cheerful, "That's right, T.K.! Maybe they're like me when I Digivolve into Angemon!"

The figure stopped their approach once they were at the distance of a few feet and grinned - at least, Tai _thought_ it was a grin; it was kinda hard to tell with all that light, honestly - before speaking in a voice he couldn't place as a guy's or a girl's, "Then I'm afraid one of your first lessons today will be 'light is not always good'."

Immediately, all the Digimon were on their feet - or whatever you'd say they were standing on if they didn't have any - ready to fight, and everyone else took a wary stance. The being didn't seem fazed at all by the show of aggression. In fact, their grin seemed to grow even wider. "A little jumpy, aren't we? Please, spare yourself the trouble; you're in my territory and," Tai gasped as he felt his whole body become immobile, and judging from the similar sounds everyone else was making, the same thing had happened to them, too. The being continued casually, "I'm afraid you're all trespassers."

Tai wanted to yell at the being, but he found he couldn't speak, either. All he could do was watch indignantly as the being took a step back and said cheerfully, "But I'm offering you a way out. It's quite simple really." The being idly waved their hands. "All you have to do is play a little Game."

The being made a small gesture, and control returned to Tai's body. Before he could even think, Tai had already blurted out, "We don't have time for games! We've _got_ to get back home!"

The being had the gall to look unimpressed by his outburst. "Is that so? And how exactly will you get back home, hmm?"

"Uh..."

Mimi stepped forward and clasped her hands together. She had that sweet, innocent look she got when she really wanted to charm some poor unsuspecting sap into giving her something she wanted. But hey, Tai wasn't complaining if it worked on the being of light. "Please," she began earnestly, "We just want to go home. You'll help us poor, lost kids, right?"

Judging by that smirk, Tai would guess the answer to that was 'no'. Matt seemed to think the same thing, and spoke up, his hands clenched into fists. "Then we'll find our own way!"

For the first time since encountering this being, Tai saw an irritated look cross their face. "You're assuming I'll let you."

Tai felt a wave of overwhelming sense of dread at those words wash over him. He knew it wasn't an entirely rational feeling - a quick glance over at the others told him they were feeling the same overwhelming pressure on their mind - and try as he might, he couldn't shake off this feeling that this being could and would stand in their way. It wasn't like Devimon or Etemon, who they all eventually overcame after having the chance to get stronger. Even with Devimon's incredible evil, or Etemon's whacky, but powerful abilities, Tai had never felt such crushing despair before. No, every fibre of his being was telling him that this being of light had _control_. Control over whether they all lived or died.

And just as quickly, that pressure in his mind lifted and the rest of his _real_ thoughts slowly gathered themselves. Ugh... even with the knowledge the feelings earlier had been orchestrated by this being, Tai had to acknowledge this was beyond anything they had dealt with before! Izzy was the first to cautiously speak up in the silence, holding his laptop in his hands. "What exactly does playing this game entail?"

A wide grin spread across the being's face. "That's just what I like to hear."

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: This is my first time writing Digimon fanfiction and writing a story with so many characters interacting with each other in the same scene, so I apologize for any mistakes. The Livejournal version of this story (which can be found in my profile) will be accompanied by some graphics, which I unfortunately cannot show here. Thank you for reading, and I hope you take the time to leave a review!


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